In 2016, I read 88 books, 25 fewer than in 2015. I’m going to blame that on 紅樓夢 (A Dream of Red Mansions), which took forever to read. So here are the books. As usual, bolded titles are rereads, and there are links for the rare books I blogged about during the year. Oh, and this year, I’ve included the names of the translators for books I read in translation, since translators deserve recognition. Also, I read a lot more short fiction this year than I think I have in the past. More on that after the list of books.

The Hollow Boy Jonathan Stroud
My Brilliant Friend Elena Ferrante, translated by Ann Goldstein
Lingo: Around Europe in Sixty Languages Gaston Dorren
Illuminae Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff
The Story of a New Name Elena Ferrante, translated by Ann Goldstein
The Sparrow Mary Doria Russell
The Blackthorn Key Kevin Sands
The Goblin Emperor Katherine Addison
Children of God Mary Doria Russell
Bone Gap Laura Ruby
Those Who Leave and Those Who Stay Elena Ferrante, translated by Ann Goldstein
This Is Where It Ends Marieke Nijkamp
Serafina and the Black Cloak Robert Beatty
The Young Elites Marie Lu
The Rose Society Marie Lu
Sorcerer to the Crown Zen Cho
Goodbye Stranger Rebecca Stead
The Rest of Us Just Live Here Patrick Ness
The Story of the Lost Child Elena Ferrante, translated by Ann Goldstein
The Game of Love and Death Martha Brockenbrough
Pax Sara Pennypacker
Contes de la Tisseuse suivi de Voix de Fées Léa Silhol
Full Cicada Moon Marilyn Hilton
Nest Esther Ehrlich
The Dark Is Rising Susan Cooper
The Golden Specific S. E. Grove
The Perilous Gard Elizabeth Marie Pope
The Curse of Chalion Lois McMaster Bujold
A Study in Charlotte Brittany Cavallaro
The Scorpion Rules Erin Bow
Six of Crows Leigh Bardugo
Nimona Noelle Stevenson
A Madness So Discreet Mindy McGinnis
The Raven King Maggie Stiefvater
The Watchmaker of Filigree Street Natasha Pulley
Une vie à refaire: Mary MacDonald, fille de Loyaliste Karleen Bradford, translated by Martine Faubert
The Magician’s Land Lev Grossman
The Fifth Season N. K. Jemisin
A Bestiary Lily Hoang
A Long Stay in a Distant Land Chieh Chieng
The Blood Between Us Zac Brewer
The Girl Who Fell From the Sky Heidi Durrow
Carry On Rainbow Rowell
The Lie Tree Frances Hardinge
Flexible Wings Veda Stamps
Novecento: pianiste Alessandro Baricco, translated by Françoise Brun
Sacra: Parfums d’Isenne et d’ailleurs, Opus I–Aucun cœur inhumain Léa Silhol
Exit, Pursued by a Bear E. K. Johnston
Summerlost Ally Condie
Court of Fives Kate Elliott
Beyond Magenta: Transgender Teens Speak Out Susan Kuklin
Anna and the Swallow Man Gavriel Savit
The Girls at the Kingfisher Club Genevieve Valentine
The Girl from Everywhere Heidi Heilig
How to Say Goodbye in Robot Natalie Standiford
Guardian of the Dead Karen Healey
Dark Metropolis Jaclyn Dolamore
A Strangeness in My Mind Orhan Pamuk, translated by Ekin Oklap
Glittering Shadows Jaclyn Dolamore
Future Shock Elizabeth Briggs
The Steep & Thorny Way Cat Winters
Girl in Reverse Barbara Stuber
The Golden Compass Philip Pullman
Conversations avec la Mort Léa Silhol
Horseradish: Bitter Truths You Can’t Avoid Lemony Snicket
I Think I Am In Friend-Love With You Yumi Sakugawa
Flora Segunda Ysabeau S. Wilce
A Dream of Red Mansions Cao Xueqin and Gao E, translated by Yang Xianyi and Gladys Yang
Monstress Marjorie Liu and Sana Takeda
Seasonal Velocities Ryka Aoki
The Crimson Skew S. E. Grove
The Inquisitor’s Tale: Or, the Three Magical Children and Their Holy Dog Adam Gidwitz and Hatem Aly
The Reader Traci Chee
The Story of Owen E. K. Johnston
Prairie Fire E. K. Johnston
Why Dust Shall Never Settle Upon This Soul Ryka Aoki
Journey Aaron Becker
Quest Aaron Becker
Return Aaron Becker
Murder Is Bad Manners Robin Stevens
Poison Is Not Polite Robin Stevens
Ondine Jean Giraudoux
A Darker Shade of Magic V. E. Schwab
None of the Above I. W. Gregorio
Scarlett Undercover Jennifer Latham
The Smaller Evil Stephanie Kuehn
The Creeping Shadow Jonathan Stroud
Lost in Translation: An Illustrated Compendium of Untranslatable Words from Around the World Ella Frances Sanders

The Numbers:

• Total books read: 88
• Books in French: 6 (principally due to the good influence of Isabelle)
• Books that were not novels: 18 (20%) (Wow, I seem to be diversifying! Non-fiction: 2; Short story collections: 3; Essay collections: 1; Poetry: 1; Picture books: 3; Plays: 1; Not easily categorized: 5; also Nimona and Monstress are graphic novels)
• Books read in translation: 8 (9%) (Italian to English: 4; English to French: 1; Italian to French: 1; Turkish to English: 1; Chinese to English: 1)
• Books read for the first time: 84 (95%)
• Books read not for the first time: 4 (5%)
• Books written by women (where at least one co-author is a woman): 68 (77%)
• Books by authors of color (obviously, how someone identifies can’t always be deduced from a name and an author photo, so this isn’t guaranteed to be 100% accurate): 18 (20%)
• Books by category (as decided by me): Adult: 30 (34%); Young Adult: 34 (39%); Middle Grade: 21 (24%); Picture Book: 3 (3%)

A note on short stories: For many years, I haven’t read much short fiction, spending almost all my reading hours on novels. (When I was younger and subscribed to Cricket magazine, I read a lot more short stories.) This year, though, I started reading more short stories, probably again thanks to the influence of Isabelle, who recommended half of the titles on the list below to me. Sometime in the latter half of the year, I started keeping a record of the short stories I was reading. Hence this list, in case you’re curious.

“The Uncarved Heart” Evan Dicken
“Cat Pictures Please” Naomi Kritzer
“Taste the Singularity at the Food Truck Circus” Jeremiah Tolbert
“Her Sacred Spirit Soars” S. Qiouyi Lu
“Limits” Donna Glee Williams
“The Circle Harp” Donna Glee Williams
“Almost Days” D.K. Mok
“Made of Cats: A Love Story” Judith Tarr
“Selkie Stories Are For Losers” Sofia Samatar
“A Fist of Permutations in Lightning and Wildflowers” Alyssa Wong
“Without Faith, Without Law, Without Joy” Saladin Ahmed
“Where We Live” Heidi Heilig
“Hurricane Heels” Isabel Yap
“White Lie Sympathy” Isabel Yap
“Boat in Shadows, Crossing” Tori Truslow
“Fist With A Kiss” Isabel Yap
“Only Fools Fall” Isabel Yap
“Kaleidoscope Heart” Isabel Yap
“Water Finds Its Level” M. Bennardo
“RedChip BlueChip” Effie Seiberg
“Makeisha in Time” Rachael K. Jones
“On the Acquisition of Phoenix Eggs (Variant)” Marissa Lingen
“Razorback” Ursula Vernon
“Laws of Night and Silk” Seth Dickinson
“The Traitor Baru Cormorant, Her Field-General, and Their Wounds” Seth Dickinson
“Samantha’s Diary” Diana Wynne Jones
“The Fisher Queen” Alyssa Wong
“Santos de Sampaguitas” Alyssa Wong
“Dragon Brides” Nghi Vo

And finally, my favorite books of 2016 (in chronological order)! I didn’t let myself include rereads. And I didn’t set out to choose a certain number of books.

• Illuminae Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff
• The Sparrow Mary Doria Russell (I think I owe this one to Andrew!)
• The Goblin Emperor Katherine Addison
• Sorcerer to the Crown Zen Cho
• The Watchmaker of Filigree Street Natasha Pulley
• The Fifth Season N. K. Jemisin
• The Lie Tree Frances Hardinge
• Anna and the Swallow Man Gavriel Savit
• The Girls at the Kingfisher Club Genevieve Valentine
• I Think I Am In Friend-Love With You Yumi Sakugawa
• Seasonal Velocities Ryka Aoki
• The Inquisitor’s Tale: Or, the Three Magical Children and Their Holy Dog Adam Gidwitz and Hatem Aly
• A Darker Shade of Magic V. E. Schwab

Lucky thirteen, I guess!